Like Mother, Like Daughter
by horseygilmoregirl
Summary: Her life is all planned out for her, she's set to marry a man she thinks she loves, but will she follow in her mother's footsteps and bolt? Narco and Sophies with some JJ, Dean haters stay away! Finished
1. The Background

_**A.N.- I own nothing in this story.**_

_She looked over at her passenger._"_Thank you for doing this for me," she says, fighting backtears. _"_Anytime."_

The door opened, and he stumbled in. Drunk. Again. Past midnight. Again. She didn't think he was cheating on her. He was probably just hanging out with his friends. Ever since she'd moved in with him, after they got engaged, he'd been doing this at least once a week. Ever since then, she'd been having doubts. They were so unlike. She knew she'd end up living in Hartford, in a mansion as big and cold as his family's, with only a couple maids for company who she would be reprimanded for befriending. She would end up a trophy wife, producing an heir and raising her children in the same fashion as her grandmother. As much as she loved Emily Gilmore, she didn't want to be like her, or have the same relationships with her children. She wasn't even sure whether or not she wanted children.

Lorelai Huntzberger. Rory Huntzberger. It sounded so wrong. She wanted to keep her maiden name, stay Rory Gilmore. But Logan's family would never allow that. They probably wouldn't even let her make it into a hyphenate, although that made sense. Gilmore-Huntzberger was much too hard to say. She wished that the 'name issue,' as she had come to call it, was the only doubt she had. The only thing coming between her and Logan, but it was the least of her issues.

She couldn't live the way he wanted to, and he couldn't live the way she wanted to. He wanted to live in Hartford, continue the life he'd lived his whole life, but with her there to make it more manageable. She was a small town girl, born and raised. Her politics and beliefs about life wouldn't mesh with high society. She was too much like her mother, more than she's ever thought. Her mother, who would bring up politics to annoy her father's snobby elitist parents. Her mother, who had lived in tiny Stars Hollow for 22 years, and never wanted to leave. She wanted to travel, and see the world, but she wanted to be able to come home to Miss Patty, Babette, Taylor, Luke, her mother, Gypsy, Andrew, Dean, and everyone else in Stars Hollow at the end of the day. What would she do without Sookie, Jackson and Davey, and all the crazy stories about them her mother told her? How could she live without the off chance that some crazy guy with a closet full of board games would ask her to water his lawn? How could she raise a kid without town meetings, where she could babble on about a song to tell her boyfriend she loved him? Someplace without round cakes, and people who noticed what you're reading, and kept track of it, someplace where a boyfriend builds you a car instead of borrowing Daddy's credit card and buying you a fancy one, and made you a bracelet for your birthday before you were officially dating? A world where everything was about money, the world that threw you a party because the man you were dating was too poor, even if he was perfect in every other way. Sometimes she enjoyed going to that world, but she knew she could never live there.

What his parents had said about her when they had first started dating had been completely true. She didn't understand what it took to be a part of his world, and what she did understand she didn't want to be a part of. She could accept it to visit her grandparents, because they were her grandparents; she was a sweet girl, and could never hate her own family for how they chose to live. She could even enjoy parts of it, because it was her grandparent's world, and she owed it to them to be a good granddaughter after barely knowing them for the first sixteen years of her life. She had accepted Logan's proposal because he made everyone she cared about so happy, and she didn't care enough to go against them. Now she was just being herself, and refusing to let go of her love for him, even if she couldn't see that herself.

"Hey, Ace, you off in another world there?" Logan asked her, falling into bed next to her. "I'm just thinking about us." she told him, hoping he'd pick up on the fact that she was unhappy. All he did was start kissing her and tug at her shirt.


	2. The Movie

_**A.N.-I still don't own anything in this story**_

_They looked up at the red light they'd been stopped by, right in front of Luke's. _"_Weird," she remarked. _"_Kind of ironic, a red light right now." _"_Even weirder than that."_

She walked through Doose's Market, picking up candy for movie night with her mother. She dumped every sugar-filled thing she could find in the shopping basket. She stopped as she passed the corn starch. It wasn't exactly a candy, but the memories it brought back were sweeter than candy. Hotter than candy, too, she thought with a laugh, the memories brought back by that as good as the others. She reached out her left hand to pick it up, and watched the light glint off the huge, extravagant diamond. So fancy, expensive, and gaudy. A way for Logan to show her just how much he had to offer her. She hated, although she could never tell him that. She pulled it off and stuck it in her pocket, picked up the corn starch, and stared at it, letting the memories wash over her.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked, jerking her out of her reverie. "What are you doing? I've been waiting for you for over an hour!" The look she got made her feel like she had been caught cheating. Why did she feel so guilty? She was allowed to remember her first kiss. For over an hour. With her engagement ring off, and in her pocket. Shit, maybe not. "Rory?" Lorelai asked again.

"What?" She could practically read her mother's thoughts. That she had practically cheated. That Logan was the perfect guy, and she shouldn't be staring at a box of cornstarch and thinking about Dean for who knows how long. "Why aren't you wearing your ring?" She dropped the cornstarch into the basket and pulled out her ring, sliding it on her finger.

"I...it was pinching...and heavy...so, I took it off." The words sound fake even to her.

"Let's get the rest of the stuff and go home." Lorelai said, her tone of voice saying clearly that the conversation wasn't over.

"Okay."

"Now, tell me, is everything alright between you and Logan?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"You're doing the blinky thing! What's wrong with the two of you?"

"Nothing's wrong, per say, I'm just having doubts."

"About marrying him?"

"Well, yeah, I mean I'd have to live the way his parents live, and I wouldn't be able to work, and other stuff, too."

"What is this 'other stuff?' Because you know that those things are not true. Logan loves the fact that you want to work! He convinced you to go back to Yale so you could work!"

"And that's the only reason you like him! Shouldn't you want more from your son-in-law than the fact that he convinced your daughter not to take a year off?"

"That is **not** the only reason I like him for you! It's just the first thing I saw in him that made me realize I like him for you!"

"Can we just watch the movie?"

"No, we are not finished with our discussion yet!"

"Yes, we are. I'm leaving."


	3. The Gazebo

_**A.N.-don't own any of it**_

_The blue pickup truck drove North. The last time something like this had happened, the driver hadn't had a plan. This time she did, and it was to go to do the same things they had done before._

Rory sat in the gazebo, looking out at the summer night in Stars Hollow around her. It was her home, hers and her mother's. A symbol of their bond, and their understanding of each other. Why was that changing? Why couldn't her mother accept that Logan wasn't perfect? She remembered so clearly a time when Lorelai thought he was the devil, and his father was off the charts. When she hated the fact that her daughter was tempted into the world of Richard and Emily, the snob world that Lorelai had wanted nothing more than to be far away from. Now that she was realizing that Lorelai was right, and she wanted to run as far away as she could, Lorelai wanted to stay. She slipped her ring off again, and fell asleep crying.

"Rory?" A familiar voice rung through the night. "Are you alright?"

"No, not really. But I will be."

"What's wrong?"

"I had a huge fight with my mother."

"What about?"

"Logan."

"I thought she liked him now."

"She does. She loves him for me. More than I do."

"It doesn't sound like her to push you into marrying someone from your grandparent's world."

"I know. That's what hurts the most."

"Shhhhh. Come here." he whispered, and she found herself crying in Dean's arms once more.


	4. The Need

1"_You know you'll never have another chance with him."_

"_I don't want another chance with him."_

"_You've changed your mind before."_

"_No, I always wanted another chance. I always tried to leave it open to another possible chance. Always."_

She walked back into the apartment in Hartford she and Logan were renting, putting the engagement ring back on. They'd moved in after her Yale graduation. She thought of calling for him, but decided against it. She didn't want to have sex with him, and she didn't want to have to explain why not. He's be able to tell if she's lying, and to tell the truth she'd have to tell him about talking with Dean earlier that night. He'd get mad. And he'd wonder whether she was falling in love with Dean again, and get madder. Then every time she mentioned Dean, they'd have a big fight about whether she loved him. He'd win every one of them, because she knew that remembering her feelings would seem like falling back in love to him. But she wasn't! Was she? If she wasn't, then why was she so happy that her shirt smelled like him from being in his arms? Why had she stared at that box of cornstarch for so long?

She crept into the bedroom, and slid into bed next to Logan, and tried to fall asleep in spite of his snores. She rolled closer to him, and slid her arm around him. Because she loved him! She did! She kissed his ear, trying to wake him up, trying to forget that she hadn't wanted to do this only seconds ago. Because if she didn't, then that meant she wasn't over Dean. She kissed him more insistently, begging him to wake up. When he did, croaking out her name, she kissed him harder. She focused on him, trying to put her heart into what she was doing. Searching for her love for him, trying to fill herself with it. He was her fiancé, and she wasn't going to lose him the way she'd lost Jess and Dean.


	5. First Interlude, Logan

1"_Where is she? Where the hell did she go?"_

"_Calm down!"_

"_No! I can't calm down! I won't calm down! Where the hell is she?"_

When he woke up, he saw her laying there, sleeping peacefully. She always looked so beautiful when she slept. And when she was awake. He never believed it was possible to love anyone as much as he loved her. He hadn't even believed in love before he met her. For twenty-one years of his twenty-three year life, he never believed in love. Lust he's believed in, he'd seen that close to every night. But love? It never even crossed his mind. He'd planned to go wild all through college, then settle down with whomever his parents wanted him to, as long as he felt at least some lust for her. And if it wasn't enough, hell, she'd never notice if he took a three-day weekend when he didn't need to now and then. But none of that would be good enough now. He had Rory, and she, although unplanned, was the one thing that made him truly happy now. He wanted nothing more than to make her happy, yet she was slipping away, he could feel it. She hadn't been all there around him since he asked her to marry him. He wanted to think it was because she was imagining their wedding, planning their life together, but he knew that was just wishful thinking. She seemed too sad, and withdrawn. She was having doubts. He wasn't making her happy. That was all he wanted, goddamn it! He'd do anything for her, anything! He'd even take her to her hometown, although the whole town scared him half to death! That would make her happy! He'd even go into Doose's Market, the scariest place on Earth. Because she knew he was terrified of Taylor, and she always loved laughing at him whenever they ran into him. He wanted to hear her laugh again, even if it was at his expense.


	6. The Visit

1"_So, where are we going?"_

"_A bed and breakfast called the 'Cheshire Cat."_

"_As in Alice in Wonderland?"_

"_So what?"_

"_You are willingly going to a bed and breakfast called the 'Cheshire Cat?"_

"_That's what I said."_

"_When I agreed to do this, I didn't realize you'd had a personality transplant."_

He'd suggested that they go to Stars Hollow. She should be overjoyed! This was what she had wanted for years, him suggesting they go to Stars Hollow, just for fun. So why was she reluctant? She'd called her mother to ask her not to tell Logan about their fight, or her doubts. Lorelai had agreed that it wasn't her place to do that, but had warned her that her doubts would become a reality if she didn't tell Logan about them. But how could she do that? She couldn't just tell him that she was having doubts, out of the blue. If he brought it up, she would tell him, but she didn't know how to bring it up.

"Ace? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired."

"Will it wake you up to watch me walk into Doose's and talk to Taylor?" If she knew that Dean didn't work when he tried that, definitely.

"As long as we can get some coffee at Luke's first!"

"Hey, that's a given!"

"Then, yes, that would definitely wake me up."

"Good." he checked the road, and gave me a quick peck on the lips, before turning his attention back to his driving.

"Hey, be careful, there, bud. Don't get me into a car crash, 'cause Taylor wouldn't like that at all, especially if you happened to do it right by his bench!"

"Now you're comparing me to that Jess punk? Not fair!" Yes, fair, they both kept her from Dean. What!

"No, not fair at all." She contradicted herself quickly. She'd done this with Dean, right before he dumped her for liking Jess, a little bit, but not this much. But she'd loved Dean while she dated Jess. It didn't mean she didn't love Logan. She did love Logan! She had to!

"Here we are, Ace, have your tape recorder on you?"

"Yup, right here in my pocket, and it's already rolling."

"Then we'd better go in before you run out of tape."

"Thanks for the consideration."

"Does that mean I might get a little in return, and you won't show this to the Brigade?"

"So sorry, I already promised them, now get your butt in there!" She could feel him trembling under her hand as she pushed him in. As soon as they were inside, she knew it was a mistake. Her eyes snapped over to where Dean was stocking the cornstarch. As if him working wouldn't have been bad enough, he was stocking the cornstarch. Well, beans would have been bad, too. Or any type of candy. Or stirring the nacho cheese. Or...

"Ace?" She snapped her head up. Logan was looking from her to Dean, and back again, with a weird expression on his face.

"Sorry, I was just spacing. Let's go!" She could tell he didn't completely believe her, but he let it go.


	7. The Hug

1"_Will you come away with me?" the tears almost blind her._

"Hey, Ace, you wanna get out of here now? Please?" He asked her, snapping her out of her reverie again.

"You go ahead, I'll just pick up a few things."

"Okay." he nodded, looking surreptitiously at Taylor before bolting as fast as he could without being obvious. She watches him until she's sure he's gone, then walks up to Dean.

"Hi."

"Oh, hey."

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?"

"No, I'm just about done, and Taylor's getting ready to head to the candy shop, so I really don't have anything to do."

"So this is the perfect time for me to come talk to you?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, good."

"Yeah."

"Anyways, I just wanted to thank you...for taking care of me like that."

"Oh, well, of course I did. I mean, why wouldn't I?"

"I didn't mean that I was surprised that you would do something like that. Because I wasn't. It's exactly the kind of thing you would do. It's so nice, and wonderful, and...perfect. And just like you. I just wanted to thank you anyways. Because you don't get enough recognition. And you deserve major recognition. Because you're so great."

"Wow. That was some major babbling right there."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. But I meant every word. All of it. It's all true. You're perfect, for everything you do, and no one notices. And I'd forgotten. And I can't believe I forgot. And I don't know why. And I hate that I forgot that. But I'm glad I remembered. Because people need to know. How special, and wonderful, and perfect you are."

"Rory, if you don't stop you're going to give me a huge ego. Why are you so nervous?" she chewed her lip, staring at him, before pulling his face down to hers, kissing him gently. She felt every familiar crease on his lips, the familiar soft stubble of his cheek, the familiar way she rose on her toes. He pulled away, looking at her inquiringly. She let her head drop onto his chest. He was just the right height that her head rested comfortably. Whenever she tried to do that with Logan, searching for this familiar comfort her neck hurt from bending too low. Her arms encircled her neck, and his crept around her waist, his nose buried in her hair. She didn't know how long they stood there like that, not moving, only that it wasn't long enough. One simple gesture had never made her feel so alive, while letting her forget that there was a world outside his arms.


	8. The Song

1_The stupid pro-con list she made doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't tell her which way is following her heart. _

She had dragged Logan back to Stars Hollow for the 5-year anniversary of Taylor's Candy and Soda Shoppe opening. She wasn't even sure how she'd convinced him to come, but he seemed so eager to please her, to make her life perfect, so that she'd remember how perfect the time right before her wedding was. She walked through the store, watching the way Logan tried to hide behind bins to avoid Taylor. She'd miss coming to these town functions when she was living in Hartford and working overseas for a some paper. She was determined to spend as much time in Stars Hollow as was humanly possible. She wasn't ready to give up her old home yet. She still missed the Independence Inn. Logan didn't even know it had ever existed. She didn't know why she hadn't talked to him about it, they just didn't talk about anything anymore. He barely even knew her. He didn't know about her affair with Dean, that she'd been the cause of her first love's divorce. He didn't even know Dean had ever been married! He didn't know about Tristin's mind games, or that she and Paris had been archenemies for years. He didn't know about Max, or Jess. All he knew about her life before him was that she'd been the ultimate good girl, valedictorian of Chilton, closely bonded daughter of single mother Lorelai Gilmore, with aspirations to be an international correspondent. All he knew about Dean was that he'd been her boyfriend, and had dumped her at a party her grandparents threw for her. She needed to tell him more, but she didn't want to. To have anything that even resembled happiness, she'd need to open up, and share her life with him, but she was having as much trouble opening her life to him as her mother had opening her life to Max. Her marriage to Logan had to be better than Lorelai's marriage to Max would have been if she had seen it through.

"Logan!" she had made her decision. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay, Ace, what about?" she opened her mouth to speak, but Taylor beat her to it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to celebrate this incredible store's existence for five years, which was only ever doubted because of who the landlord is. So, here is some very fitting music for you to listen to as you sample the delicious treats sold here free of charge!" he announced, using the megaphone he usually reserved for the Dance Marathon as the CD player began to blast Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Candy Man."

FLASHBACK

"**A song. Like a song that's 'our song'."**

"**Okay."**

"**Something romantic, but not mushy, something that will make us remember this."**

"**Believe me, I'm remembering this."**

"**Oh, I know. Okay, perfect. So, from now on, no matter what you're doing, no matter where you are, you'll stop and think of me when you hear this." (plays Sammy Davis Jr.'s 'Candy Man')**

"**That's not gonna be our song."**

"**Why not? It's perfect. It's happy. It's hopeful, it has the word candy in it. Hey, what is more hot than candy?"**

"**Pick something else."**

"**Who can take the sunrise...sprinkle it with dew."**

"**Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'll pick something else."**

"**No."**

"**Hand it over, I can't take it anymore!"**

"**This is what happens when the women get the remote, ah-ha!"**

END FLASHBACK

"Ace? What did you want to talk to me about? And are you alright? You seem...weird." she knew this would be the perfect time to tell him about Dean, but she couldn't. She needed to see Dean, talk to Dean, ask Dean what to do about Taylor playing their song a week before her wedding.

"Uh, this song, it has memories. Good ones. But then, not good ones. I need to be alone for a little while, we'll talk later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." he told her, giving her a searching look. She could tell he cared that she was upset, and she knew that if she didn't tell him now, she'd never be able to. But she turned around and ran to Doose's Market, where she knew Dean would be covering for Taylor.

"Dean! They're playing our song!"

"What?"

"At the candy-thing! Taylor's playing our song! From when we..."

"That song about candy?"

"Yes!" she leaned into him and cried. "And when I first heard it, I was so happy! It reminded me of how we were, and how life was before Logan, and it made me so happy! And then he was right there, and I felt awful for being happy! For loving the thought of...with you. So I came here."

"Sh, Ror, it's okay, you're fine." she looked up at him, her face streaked with tears and kissed him. Their kisses grew more passionate as he lifted her up off the ground, her legs winding around his. Her left hand slid down her face, the ring cold against it, but neither of them noticed as he carried her to the storage room in the back, locking the door behind them.

She rolled over on the cold floor and looked at him, smiling. He'd become her whole world again, even if she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she'd have to get up, get dressed and leave eventually. He chuckled softly, "That song really is our song, isn't it?" she laughed too, enjoying being there with Dean. She lifted her hand to play with his hair. They both saw the gaudy gold diamond ring at the same time. Logan. She'd forgotten about Logan. They just stared at it in horror. Tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be, it's okay."

"I have to go." he nodded sadly at her as she wiped her eyes and reached for her clothes.


	9. The Flashbacks

1"_So...it's closed? Full?"_

"_New owner."_

She'd made a pro-con list. About whether or not she should go ahead and marry Logan. She'd cheated on him, she'd slept with Dean. She hadn't told him about ever having slept with Dean, even the time before he'd met her. Logan didn't know her, Dean did. She and Dean had tried to be together 3 times, and failed 3 times, she and Logan had only tried once, and it was working alright so far. Everyone in her life besides Lane loved Logan, and felt indifferent to Dean at best. She was going to marry Logan, and this was her rehearsal dinner. Nothing was going to remind her of Dean tonight. Or, she promised, for the rest of her life.

"Hey, Ace, you want a beer?"

FLASHBACK

"**Uh, well, I'll have a white wine and Dean'll have a beer." **

"**What!"**

"**Corona right?" **

"**No, I don't want a beer! I don't drink beer. I'll have water or soda or anything. Or nothing. Not beer. Never beer. Beer is. . beer's bad."**

"**Relax Dean, that's just Lorelai's little sense of humor. You're very cruel." **

"**Well, yes, keeps me young." **

"**I'm just gonna sit here and stare at my hands." **

"**Soda Dean?" **

"**Please." **

"**Rory?" **

"**Oh, I'll have a beer."**

**Emily and Lorelai laugh**

"**I'm sorry Dean, we're not laughing at you."**

END FLASHBACK

"How about some soda?"

FLASHBACK

"**Do you want a pop?**

"**A pop?"**

"**Give me a break, in Chicago we call it pop!"**

"**Well, in Connecticut, we call it free soda, and yes."**

"**Which hand?"**

"**Okay, the whole concept of a free soda is that you don't have to work for it!"**

"**Sorry, you've gotta sing for your supper."**

"**Or your soda."**

END FLASHBACK

"Here you are, milady." He handed it to her.

"Do you want a roll?"

FLASHBACK

"**Oh, no! I forgot to make the rolls!"**

"**Well, that's OK."**

"**I can't believe I forgot them!"**

"**What are you doing?"**

"**I'll make 'em now!"**

"**Hold on, it's— come on, we don't really need rolls."**

"**Donna Reed would never have forgotten the rolls! They're gonna make me turn in my pearls!"**

_**They kiss**_

"**I promise I'll kick anyone's butt who comes near those pearls!"**

END FLASHBACK

"Um, no thanks."

"Salad?"

FLASHBACK

"**What's in there?"**

"**A salad."**

"**Salad?"**

"**Yeah, it's a quaint dish sometimes used to precede large quantities of pizza."**

_**Rory and Lorelai give him weird looks**_

"**It's for me."**

"**Clearly."**

END FLASHBACK

"No, thanks. Is there any pizza?" Logan chuckled. Lorelai's look said she knew she was thinking about Dean. Luke snorted as if it were to be expected. Which it was.

"Sorry, no pizza. Green beans. Chicken."

FLASHBACK

"**Hey."**

"**Oh, hey."**

"**You're busy."**

"**Yeah, I just have to put this green bean shipment on the shelves. You want to help?"**

"**Yeah, sure. I, uh, I love stocking beans."**

"**OK. Uh, follow me."**

"**So, do you work on Saturdays? I forget?"**

"**Well it depends. Sometimes I come in if I don't have any plans. Why?"**

"**No reason. See, there's this thing at my school on Saturday. Well it's not really at my school, it's kind of given by my school."**

"**What is it?"**

"**Well it's this thing where you go and they play music and you're supposed to get all dressed up and do some kind of dance and then there's chicken."**

"**Chicken?"**

"**Well, I don't know if there's chicken, but at these kind of things they often serve chicken because it's probably cheaper and people eat it, so the logic behind the chicken choice really isn't that bad."**

"**I'm lost."**

"**It's a dance."**

"**Ah."**

"**And it's not like I'm dying to go or anything, but it's a new school, and being a part of the social activities is really important at Chilton."**

"**So you're asking me to go to the dance with you?"**

END FLASHBACK

"Sure, I'll have some beans. And chicken."

"Do I need to ask about the mashed potatoes?"

FLASHBACK

"**I made you dinner."**

"**Excuse me?"**

"**Steak, green beans, mashed potatoes–"**

"**Wait, you made me dinner?"**

"**That's right."**

"**You made me dinner?"**

"**And dessert."**

"**OK, what is going on here?"**

"**I thought it was obvious. It's Donna Reed night."**

END FLASHBACK

"Nope."

"You don't want mashed potatoes?"

"No, you didn't need to ask. Of course I want mashed potatoes!"

"How is it?"

"It's perfect."

FLASHBACK

"**Well."**

"**What can I say?"**

"**You can say it's perfect."**

"**It's perfect."**

"**Thank you. How is it really?"**

"**It's perfect."**

"**Yeah?"**

END FLASHBACK

"Is that the food, or all of this?"

"All of this!"

"Good. I want everything to be perfect for you."

FLASHBACK

"**That was really good."**

"**It was?"**

"**Yes it was."**

"**How was the salad?"**

"**Great."**

"**What about that cheese bread thing? Too heavy?"**

"**Just heavy enough."**

"**Really?"**

"**Everything was perfect. Even the soda was good. I don't know how they do it, but the Coke here is definitely superior to the Coke anywhere else."**

"**Okay, at what point during that did you start making fun of me?"**

"**I would never make fun of you. Especially after you ordered three different kinds of pasta for me because I couldn't decide."**

"**Well, you shouldn't have to decide. I mean, tonight you should have everything that you want."**

END FLASHBACK

"Well, it definitely is." The words sound fake, even to herself. But he believes her, because why shouldn't he? He can't read her mind. He doesn't know that everything he's said has reminded her of Dean. He doesn't know that she can't help but think about him, even after she promised herself she wouldn't think of him once that night. She looks at him for a clue. He's looking at her, gazing adoringly as she shovels food into her mouth.

FLASHBACK

"**Stop it."**

"**No, you look cute."**

"**I'm eating."**

"**Well, you eat cute.**"

"**I do not eat cute. No one eats cute. Well, Bambi maybe, but he's a cartoon."**

END FLASHBACK

"You think I eat cute."

"Whoa, now you're a mind reader."

"It's one of my many talents."

"Yes, you do have many talents. But your many talents are balanced by your faults."

"I have none."

"Well, for one, you read crazily long books."

FLASHBACK

"**I don't know. I think Tolstoy's a little over my head."**

"**No, that's not true, Tolstoy wrote for the masses, the common man. It's completely untrue that you have to be some kind of a genius to read his stuff."**

"**Yeah but..."**

"**Now I know it's big..."**

"**Very big."**

"**And long..."**

"**Very, very long."**

"**And many of the Russian names tend to be spelled very similar, making it confusing..."**

"**Every single person's name ends with 'ski,' now how is that possible?"**

"**But it's one of my favorite books. And I know if you give it a try you..."**

"**Alright, I'll try again."**

END FLASHBACK

"That's a virtue, not a vice."

"And you have incredible concentration when you read these crazily long books. Once Finn set off the fire alarm and you just sat there, reading."

FLASHBACK

"**I mean, I know it's kind of cliche to pick Moby Dick as your first Melville but...wait, how did you know I'm reading Moby Dick?"**

"**Well, I've been watching you."**

"**Watching me?"**

"**Not in a creepy, I'm watching you sort of way. I just– I've noticed you."**

"**Me?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**When?"**

"**Every day. After school you come out and you sit under that tree there and you read. Last week it was Madame Bovary, this week it's Moby Dick."**

"**But why would you–"**

"**Because you're nice to look at. And because you've got incredible concentration."**

"**What?"**

"**Last Friday these to guys were tossing around a ball and one guy nailed the other right in the face. I mean, it was a mess, blood everywhere, the nurse came out, there was chaos everywhere, his girlfriend was freaking out, and you just sat there and read. I mean, you never even looked up. You just sat there and read. I mean, you never even looked up. I thought 'I have never seen someone read so intensely before in my life, I have got to meet that girl."**

END FLASHBACK

"Once again, a virtue!" Dean recognized these things as good, why couldn't Logan?

"You're right, you have no faults."

"Thank you." She smiled at him, but her heart wasn't in it.


	10. Second Interlude, Lorelai

1_It's my daughter's wedding day, and she's not even going to show up. Logan doesn't deserve that. But in a way this is my fault. If I had listened to her when she said she was having doubts, and she wasn't sure she wanted to marry him, we could have averted this over a month ago. But, like mother, like daughter._

She looked at her daughter's face at the mention of cakes. She remembered when Rory had finally told her about her and Dean's first meeting.

FLASHBACK

"**Mom, remember when I got into Chilton?"**

"**Yes."**

"**And I almost didn't go because I met a guy?"**

"**Dean, right?"**

"**Yeah. I want to tell you how I met him."**

"**Finally"**

"**Are you going to go on about how I'm finally being a good daughter, or can I tell you."**

"**Tell me about the guy!"**

"**Well, he came up to me when I was putting all my stuff in boxes. I made a reference to _Rosemary's Baby_, and he got it. He said I had good taste in movies, and we talked a little bit. He said he needed to go look for a job. I told him to go ask Miss Patty, so he asked me to show him where Miss Patty's was. He carried my stuff, and we walked over to Miss Patty's. He told me he'd been watching me because he thought I was really pretty, and a vert intense reader."**

"**Is that all? Were there butterflies? Were you nervous?"**

"**I was a babbling idiot. I could barely tell him my name, and then I went into the whole story of how I got my name."**

"**Demerol and all?"**

"**Demerol and all. That's not even the worst of it!"**

"**There's more?"**

"**Yes, I started babbling about round cakes. Then he told me about watching me, and I babbled about round cakes again. All the same stuff about round cakes, too."**

"**The perfect guy. I wonder if I could get him to change the water bottle."**

END FLASHBACK

"Are the cakes round?" She asks, watching her daughter very closely. Rory snaps back to reality, her cheeks flushing, looking extremely guilty, refusing to meet her eyes. She's been thinking about Dean, she can sense it. She can even prove it.

"Because if the cakes aren't round enough, we can always go get some Rocky Road cookies."

FLASHBACK

"**What's this? You hate rocky road cookies."**

"**I do not."**

"**Oh, I'm sorry, that must be my other daughter, Schmory."**

"**We're leaving now."**

"**Wait, I know who likes rocky road cookies."**

"**Who?"**

"**Dean. They're for Dean."**

"**Wow, she's bringing baked goods to a boy. Wow, serious!"**

"**Hi, Dean, these cookies are for you 'cause you're keen"**

"**Stop!"**

"**Rory's in love."**

"**Love, love, love, Dean, Dean, Dean!"**

"**Cookies for the love and the Dean and the cookies for the love and the Dean and the cookies for the love and the..."**

"**Dean and the love and the Dean and the love and the Dean and the love...Okay we can stop, she's gone now."**

"**But it's fun."**

"**Well, you're on your own."**

"**The cookies for the Dean and the Rory and the cookies for the love with the Dean..."**

END FLASHBACK

This time Rory's eyes snapped to hers, giving her the dirtiest look she could, while still looking guilty at the same time. She looked at her and knew that she wasn't going to show up at her wedding tomorrow. Logan doesn't deserve that, but there's nothing to be done. She can't confront her, and tell her that she knows something that even her daughter might not know for sure yet. Rory would probably try to go through with it, but she won't be able to. She might not know until it's time to say 'I do,' but she wont be able to say those words. In a way this is my fault. If I had listened to her when she said she was having doubts, and she wasn't sure she wanted to marry him, we could have averted this over a month ago. But, like mother, like daughter. We Gilmore girls don't know until it's too late for heartbreak.


	11. The Decision

1 She's not allowed to see Logan until she walks down the aisle the next day, so she meanders around town, not ready to go to her mother's house. She walks to the gazebo, remembering Dean comforting her when she had doubts. She remembers the way her heart raced when she was in his arms, while she still felt safer than she's ever felt before. She thinks about how when she's in Logan's arms, her heart doesn't race, and how lost she feels. She feels the tears come as she realizes that the stupid pro-con list she made doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't tell her which way is following her heart. She runs home as fast as she can.

She hoists the blue duffel over her shoulder and sneaks out, leaving two notes on the kitchen counter, one addressed to her mother, the other to Logan. She walks to Kyle's apartment, where Dean's still living. Like he did at the beginning of her sophomore year at Yale, he stands aside and lets her in.

"Will you come away with me?" the tears almost blind her.

"Your wedding's tomorrow."

"I know"

"You know you'll never have another chance with him."

"I don't want another chance with him."

"You've changed your mind before."

"No, I've always wanted another chance.I always tried to leave it open to another possible chance. Always."

"What?"

"A part of me has always wanted another chance with you, Dean, I've never been able to let you go. All through the rehearsal dinner, all through the past month, everything reminds me of you. Whenever anyone says anything, it makes me think of you. I can't walk down that aisle and pledge myself to Logan and lose another chance to be with you, Dean."

"You're giving up a sure future with Logan for a chance with me?"

"Yes."

"Let me go get some stuff. How long will we be gone for?"

"A couple days, maybe."

They climbed into his old blue pickup truck, him letting her drive. She looked over at her passenger. "Thank you for doing this for me," she says, fighting back tears. Tears of joy. Tears of confusion. Tears of love.

"Anytime."

"I love you so much. For everything you've done. And everything about you."

"I feel the same way about you. I always have."

They looked up at the red light they'd been stopped by, right in front of Luke's.

"Weird," she remarked.

"Kind of ironic, a red light right now."

"Even weirder than that."

"How so?"

"When Mom and I did this after she called off her engagement to Max, we got stopped by this same red light."

The blue pickup truck drove North. The last time something like this had happened, the driver hadn't had a plan. This time she did, and it was to go to do the same things they had done beforeA trip to the Cheshire Cat and Harvard. That red light was a sign, besides, Rory and Lorelai always end up doing the same things, even if Rory plans them, and Lorelai does them.


	12. The Return

1 "So, where exactly are we going?" Dean asks.

"A bed and breakfast called the 'Cheshire Cat." She replies.

"As in Alice in Wonderland?" She can read his look. She knows what he's thinking: Rory and Lorelai don't do bed and breakfasts, especially not ones named after cutesy characters in cutesy books.

"So what?"

"You are willingly going to a bed and breakfast called the 'Cheshire Cat?"

"That's what I said."

"When I agreed to do this, I didn't realize you'd had a personality transplant."

"Should I explain?"

"Please."

"When mom and I ran away after she called off her engagement to Max, we drove aimlessly around"

"Let me guess, she wouldn't let you bring a map, and you wound up with nowhere to sleep but the jeep or the cutesy bed and breakfast with the cutesy name."

"Not too far off the mark. We didn't have a map, so we stopped at a Haden's Nut House, bought nuts, and I snuck and bought a map. Oh, let's go to Haden's Nut House!"

"Haden's Nut House wouldn't be open at 5 in the morning, Rory. And, anyways, why would we want nuts? We've got a whole town of them waiting for us!"

"I'm not done. Don't you want to hear the rest of my story?"

"So sorry. Continue."

"Well, I look at my map, and figure out that we seem to be heading to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mom mentions a friend of hers, Donald Stein who owned a cool bed and breakfast in Portsmouth, New Hampshire."

"A cool bed and breakfast?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I said, but..."

"But you said something about oxymorons, and used some big words I've never heard before?"

"Ha ha. But she said something about how every room was decorated in a cool style from a different century."

"That does sound kind of cool."

"Once again, exactly what I said, and no comments about large words, because as far as I can remember, I didn't use any."

"Okay. Go on with the story."

"Right, so I suggest we call, she makes a jibe at my sense of adventure, so I agree to just go."

"So...it's closed? Full?"

"New owner."

"Turned into a typical B&B?"

"Even worse."

"Have you been to any other B&B's?"

"No."

"Then how do you know it's worse?"

"Because it doesn't get any worse than that."

"So, I'm being dragged to the cutesy-est B&B ever known to mankind?"

"Look at it this way, even if we get tracked down, Mom, Luke and Logan will be too scared to follow us in."

"Well, as long as there's a good side."

She and Dean followed LaDonn past Sammy and into room 3. She had asked for room 3, and LaDonn had been all too happy to give it to them. She waited until LaDonn was gone, then immediately walked over to the guestbook and flipped through it.

"Rory, I doubt it's got the same stuff it had when you were here with your mom. That was about 6 years ago!"

"And yet..." she cried triumphantly, holding it open, and passing it to Dean, pointing at one line.

"'Sat and forever am at work here.' Rory, did Lorelai write this to torture the poor owner, because this makes no sense at all!"

"It originally said 'Satanic forces are at work here.'"

"Of course it did. The flowers are moving."

"You noticed that too?"

"Uh, yeah, it was the first thought that popped into my head when I walked into this room."

"Funny. Mine too."

"I wonder what your mom's first thought was."

"Probably that she crashed the jeep, was killed on impact, and sent to hell for standing up her fiancé."

"Well, if there's such a thing as hell, and your mother goes there, she'll definitely be somewhere with moving flowers."

"And nothing but lettuce and carrots to eat." She chuckles softly, and leans close to him, putting her forehead against his. "Thanks for going to hell with me for the weekend."

"Thanks for asking me to come to hell with you for the weekend. But having you here makes it more like heaven than hell."

"I make up for the moving flowers?"

"Easily."

"Good. Because you make up for the moving flowers for me." She leaned in and kissed him softly, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes, but staying close enough that she can still feel his breath mingling with hers. He started to lean in to kiss her again, but was interrupted by rude pounding on the door.


	13. Third Interlude part a, Lorelai

1 When she woke up at midnight, she knew Rory was gone. She could always sense whether her daughter was in the house or not. She slid out of bed, careful not to wake Luke. In the 9 months they had been married, he had not once slept later than her. She'd sworn that the day he did, she'd let him sleep. She wanted some time to mull over what had happened, and look for a note before she talked to anyone. She crept down the stairs more quietly than she ever thought it was possible to creep down stairs, as if being too loud would make any remaining clue, or goodbye, leave. The kitchen light was on, the door to the outside still slightly ajar, as if Rory hadn't wanted to chance anyone waking up and stopping her. As if the click of a door closing would wake her or Luke up. She was Rory's best friend, she would have run away with her without even telling Luke! Why hadn't Rory trusted her? She knew Rory thought that she wanted her married to Logan more than anything, but Rory had wanted her and Max married almost more than anything, and she had still come along an her crazy road trip. She stared at the three noted on the kitchen counter, each envelope sporting a different name. _Logan. Mom and Luke. Grandma and Grandpa. _She wanted to tear all of them open, see what was going through her precious girl's head. If there was any clue as to her whereabouts.

FLASHBACK

"**I think you love him, and you got scared and ran and you're really going to regret it. And soon!"**

"**Rory!"**

"**Fine. Goodnight."**

"**I'm sure. I wish I did love him. You have no idea how much."**

END FLASHBACK

"Luke! Luke! Get your butt out of bed and help me look for Rory!"

"Wha...? Rory's _gone_? But...her wedding! She's getting married today! To Logan!"

"No, she's not!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"She pulled a me."

"A me?"

"A Lorelai."

"You spent the whole day of our wedding sitting in your kitchen and talking to me on the phone because you were too superstitious to see me, but you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, I did."

"So, where is there a phone she could talk to him all day on, that does not involve actually seeing him besides here?"

"No, not what I did when I married you, you idiot!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Max Medina. Rory's lit teacher. Ring any bells?"

"She left him?"

"And she didn't even tell me." She's crying now. "She left him, left to go on a random road trip, and she didn't even ask me to go with her!"

"Maybe she thought you would stop her."

"She must be so lonely right now, my poor baby, all alone on her wedding day. What if she comes back, because she's so lonely, and marries him?"

"I thought you wanted her to marry him!"

"Not if she doesn't love him!"

"How do you know she doesn't love him?"

"Well, the fact that all she thought about at dinner last night was Dean is a little tip off."

"How do you know that she was thinking about him?"

"I could tell she was thinking about something else, and I thought it might be Dean, so I tested my theory."

"When?"

"Rocky road cookies and round cakes? Dean things. She looked so guilty when I said that, I could see it in her eyes. She was thinking about him."

"Well, then how do you know she's not with him?" She grabbed her cell phone punched in Dean's parent's number. "Hello? Can I talk to Clara?" Rory had always talked about how sweet Clara was, and how much she loved Rory.

"This is Clara"

"Hey, Clara, it's Rory's mom, Lorelai."

"Why are you calling?"

"Actually, I'm looking for your brother's phone number."

"It's 562-0990"

"Thank you so much! You might have just saved my life!"

"Why does your life depend on knowing Dean's phone number?"

"Well, I think Rory ran away, and if she was going to tell anyone, it would have been him."

"Why?"

"Because she's running away because she loves him. But please don't tell anyone that."

"Okay. Bye Lorelai."

"Bye Clara." She hung up the phone and immediately picked it back up, dialing the number Clara gave her. "Hello?" She asked.

"Who's this?" A sleepy voice asked her.

"Lorelai. Is this Dean?"

"It's Kyle. Dean's not here. He left with that Rory chick awhile ago."

"Thanks. Bye." She slid the phone back onto the cradle again.

"Well?" Luke asked her.

"She went with Dean."

"Where?"

"A random road trip. Wherever they happen to end up."

"That doesn't sound like Rory."

"Oh my god!" She brightened like a 100-watt lightbulb. "I have an idea. You in?"

"YES!"

"It involves going to a creepy B&B with moving flowers on the wall named after a character from Alice in Wonderland. You still in."

"Uh, I guess so. Shouldn't you call Logan, though? It might be a good idea to tell him that his fiancee isn't going to show up." She grabs the phone again, and dials Logan's now-familiar number.

"Hey, Logan?"

"Lorelai? Why are you calling?"

"I've got some bad news. Some very bad news. I don't even know how to say this."

"Is Rory okay? Is she sick?"

"Um, yeah, she is."

"How bad is it? Is she going to be okay?"

"Oh, it's bad, it's really, really...oh, hell, why am I lying for her? You deserve the truth. She's gone."

"Where is she? Where the hell did she go?"

"Calm down."

"No! I can't calm down! I won't calm down! Where the hell is she?"

"I have an idea. Luke and I are going to look for her."

"I'm coming too!"

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am! My fiancee is gone, and I am going to look for her!"

"No, you're not. She left because she doesn't want to marry you. Luke and I will stop at your place in Hartford on our way and give you the note she left for you, and give my parents their note, you are not coming, and this conversation is now over, bye!" She slams the phone down and looks at Luke. "Let's go. We've got a lot to do."

_I have no idea if this is actually someone's phone number, so don't you dare call it! I just hate how people always use 555 numbers in stories, so I made up a random number. If that makes people mad, leave a review saying so and I'll change it._


	14. Third Interlude part b, Logan

1 He stood by the door, staring out the window. Waiting for Lorelai and Luke to come and give him the letter. He had already arranged to swap cars with his neighbor. They would never recognize this car as his, so they would never notice him following them. He hated Lorelai so much right then. She had called, told him Rory was missing, she thought she knew where she was, but he couldn't come see her, because she was running away from him. He didn't believe that. Rory would never run away from him. Maybe she'd been kidnaped, and one condition of the ransom was that he couldn't help, although why anyone would do that was beyond him. Possibly the LDB as some joke on him. He had thought it over at least 5 times before Lorelai's jeep pulled up. She walked up and rang the bell. "I'm sorry, Logan. I wish you could come, but you can't." He nodded silently. Those words cemented his kidnaping theory. He took the envelope, watched them pull out, and snuck to the car. He followed them North as discreetly as he could.

He slipped into the _Cheshire Cat_ just in time to hear Lorelai say, "Rory Gilmore. Lorelai Gilmore. Dean Forester. I don't know what it would be under. Maybe they used an alias. She's about 5' 7" brown hair and blue eyes. He's about 6' 2" brown hair and brown eyes."

"Yes, Rory Gilmore, room 3."

"Oh, good, so no alias. Thank you so much!" He followed her and Luke up the stairs. Dean Forester. Her ex. She was kidnaped by her ex. That made sense, too, maybe more than a LDB prank. He saw them bang on the door, he saw it swing open, revealing Rory and Dean. Lorelai hugged Rory, sobbing into her hair, pulling her closer, Dean and Luke smiling at them. They walked into the room, starting to close it behind them. Seeing his chance evaporating, he dove, and managed to stick his foot in the door, kicking it open.

"Mom! You brought him!" Rory yelled.

"I did not bring him! I told him he couldn't come with us, and I looked for his car the whole way! I don't know how he got here!"

"Well, if you looked for my car the whole way, then it's very good I traded with a neighbor for the weekend." He says smugly. He outsmarted her mother. He turns to Rory, the reason he came. "It's okay," he tells her, "you can come home with me now, you don't have to worry about that silly superstition thing." He feels her wrench out of his grasp.

"No!" She says sharply, her word cutting like a knife, but he doesn't feel the pain. He knows it's only a show to keep that Dean punk from hurting her.

"What do you want? Money? A job?" He turns to Dean. "Anything you want, you can have it, but Rory's coming back with me."

"If she wants to." He responds easily, holding out his hand, and pulling Rory in towards him when she takes it.

"What does he have on you, Ace?" He asks desperately, grabbing at straws. "Whatever it is, I'll forgive you for it. I'll still love you, just come back with me!"

"How dare you?" he can feel her rage although the words are barely more than a whisper. "How dare you come in here and accuse Dean of anything? _I_ asked _him_ to come away with _me_, not the other way around! He didn't even think about making me do anything I didn't want to!"

"Whatever you want from me Rory, whatever you want, I'll give it to you."


	15. Epilogue

1

She looked absolutely stunning in her wedding gown. It was simple and plain while still elegant. It was perfect for her.

He looked amazing in his suit and tie, and the look on her face made his smile light up his whole face.

Although nothing they had was over the top, or extravagant, it was beautiful. They were using the chuppa that her step-father had made for her mother so many years before.

The ceremony was outside, on her lawn. It was small, only a few people were there. His sister. Her mother and step-father. Her grandfather. Miss Patty, Babette, Morrie, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, and Taylor. He didn't mind that there was only one person who was really there for him. He wasn't surprised his parents weren't there. They hated Rory now, and were dead-set against him marrying her. He didn't want them there unless they'd had a change of heart.

He knew that he and Rory would be very happy together, living in their new town house in Stars Hollow. They'd tried so many times, now they'd finally be together forever.

_So...did she go back to Logan or Dean? There are three things in this chapter that are specific to only one of them, but they are very subtle, and well hidden. Review and guess a. Dean or Logan and b. which 3 things are specific to whichever one you picked. I'll write a sequel, and say how many people were right._


End file.
